Dreams of a national Beirut tournament came crashing down earlier this week.
Online social network thefacebook.com decided to abandon its plans to sponsor the game -- which consists of throwing ping pong balls into cups of beer across a table -- after receiving harassing messages from several organizations, according to Web site creator Mark Zuckerberg.
The competition, which was announced last Thursday, was canceled three days later as a result of mounting pressure from organizations claiming that the tournament sponsored organized binge drinking.
Zuckerberg refused to say which organizations were upset.
Although Zuckerberg was not concerned over the legality of the tournament, he decided to cancel it because the outcry against the tournament "definitely could have been really annoying."
"We thought it was a cool thing to do, but we really didn't have much choice in" canceling it, Zuckerberg said.
Despite the failure of the Beirut tournament, the site creator plans to sponsor similar projects, such as video game competitions, in the future.
"Facebook is a really good medium for running a tournament like that," Zuckerberg said
The initial plan called for teams of two to play against one another on college campuses across the country to determine a school winner. The remaining teams were supposed to determine a national champion in a New York tournament.
Some students were disappointed to hear the tournament was canceled.
"Its absurd, we're in college -- everyone drinks" College freshman Lee Rosen said.
In fact, Rosen thought that a Beirut tournament would be a safe alternative to a typical college night.
"Instead of people going and getting trashed, they'll be safely monitored," Rosen said.
College freshman Lauralynn Drury agreed.
"Everyone is too concerned about binge drinking," Drury said, adding that the tournament "would have been fun."
Some thought that Penn students would have performed well in a Beirut tournament.
"It's not just our physical game, but at Penn we have mental game," Wharton freshman Michael Dworkis said.
And despite the fact that the official tournament was canceled, students still expressed a fondness for the game.
Engineering freshman Brian Mahoney said that Beirut serves a deeper purpose for him.
"I'm an ex-athlete, and I miss competition. Beirut fills that void," he said.
However, some students were ambivalent about the tournament's policy regarding underage drinkers.
In order to allow all students to participate, the Web site mandated that underage students use 2-percent milk instead of beer.
"I'm lactose intolerant, so drinking milk will mess me up even more than beer," Blumberg said.
"It's a little thick, but you gotta do what you gotta do," Engineering sophomore Mark Mitchell said.
